YOUR Mission
During the end-of-year holidays, interview one of your grandparents (or a great aunt or uncle) about either:
> the stories of fun or resilience from their childhood or about what your parents like were like as children.
> their most vivid memories of an iinternational or national news event that had an impact on them.
Then send us the news media link to the resulting publication, podcast or video. (Details below,)
THE DETAILS
Best to record (sound only or sound and video) the whole interview for your own family’s archives, then edit it down to the 5 minutes or less of audio or video (1000 words or less if written) that would be for public consumption (of interest to people other than family members).
A story in text can be in any language but a video needs English subtitles and audio needs a transcript in English.
SIGN-UP & DEADLINE
You’ll then send us the link to the published story. To register to do that, with your editor or advisor, sign up here: https://forms.gle/RZM7jc4WieAcyCXg6
Your deadline to be included in the next showcase
is 15 February 2022.
Some ReSOURCES
• Some background: Now is the Time to Quiz our Elders — from a Distance (Medium, April 2020) This story from early in the pandemic concentrates on long-distance interviews:
https://aralynnmcmane.medium.com/now-is-the-time-to-quiz-our-elders-from-a-distance-26fb89a24c
• One teacher's experience (Canada)
https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies/illustrations/interviewing-older-adult
• Some practical tips about recording on Zoom and Facetime plus some ideas for questions.
https://grownandflown.com/grandparent-interview-questions-tips/
SOME OTHER TIPS
MAKE IT A COMFORTABLE EXPERIENCE - Try to make it a casual conversation in a comfortable setting. If your elder is used to a teleconferencing format, so much the better. If a face-to-face is the option, find a quiet spot they like. That said, some people tell better stories in a group. That requires close attention to the audio to make sure to capture what they say. You want to make the recording tech as inconspicuous as possible.
WORK IN A TEAM & HAVE TECH BACKUP - A key strategy is to REMEMBER TO RECORD! Be sure to have a second mode of recording happening, just in case. A second person with you can help make sure all that happens. That person can also take some notes to help find specific topics in the resulting recording, help keep the conversation flowing and keep an eye on the tech, plus take photos and screen shots.
OPT FOR MULTIPLE SESSIONS - If someone is not natural story-teller, plan on at least two sessions with the first one a sort of warm-up (also recorded because you never know when gems may emerge).
CREATING GEMS - Along with a larger interview, think about creating smaller (2-5 minute) segments the concentrate on a very specific topic.